Charged-particle track analysis, thermoluminescence and microcratering studies of lunar samples

Abstract

Studies of lunar samples (from both Apollo and Luna missions) have been carried out, using the track analysis and thermoluminescence (t.l.) techniques, with a view to shedding light on the radiation and temperature histories of the Moon. In addition, microcraters in lunar glasses have been studied in order to elucidate the cosmic-dust impact history of the lunar regolith. In track studies, the topics discussed include the stabilizing effect of the thermal annealing of fossil tracks due to the lunar temperature cycle; the ‘radiation annealing’ of fresh heavy-ion tracks by large doses of protons (to simulate the effect of lunar radiation-damage on track registration); and correction factors for the anisotropic etching of crystals which are required in reconstructing the exposure history of lunar grains. An abundance ratio of ca. (1.1 + 0.3) x 10-3 has been obtained, by the differential annealing technique, for the nuclei beyond the iron group to those within that group in the cosmic rays incident on the Moon. The natural t.l. of lunar samples has been used to estimate their effective storage temperature and mean depth below the surface. A suite of samples from known depths in an artificial trench at the Apollo 17 site has been used to calculate the effective thermal conductivity and thermal wavelength of overlying lunar soil at various depths. The temperatures in the shadow of some Apollo 17 boulders, and the duration of the boulders’ presence in situ, have also been estimated from samples which have been kept refrigerated since their retrieval from the Moon. Natural and artificially produced microcraters have been studied with the following two main results : The dust-particle flux appears to have fallen off over a certain period of ca. 104-105 years (if the solar activity is assumed to be constant over that interval). Stones predominate in the large { ca . 2-10 um) diameter intervals, while irons outnumber stones at low diameters (ca . 1.0 um), in the micrometeorite flux incident on the Moon.